Retail Tech Weekly Roundup — June 21st

The most interesting take on why Amazon acquired Whole Foods.

Amazon acquired Whole Foods. Why?

It would be an understatement to say a lot happened this week. Amazon acquired Whole Foods, announced Prime Wardrobe and also patented a technology that allows comparison shopping on mobile.

The theories around the Whole Foods acquisition are many, ranging from an impending retail price war, to a conclusive grocery push by Amazon. But by far the most interesting one was by GeekWire which covers how Amazon has now acquired a treasure trove of in-store shopping data for artificial intelligence research.

Falling retail sales in US & UK

Retail spending has dropped in both the US and UK. UK has seen an estimated 0.8% drop in retail spending reportedly due to the rising inflation post Brexit vote. US retail sales also saw a drop of 0.3% in May vs a predicted increase of 0.1%.

As traditional retailers fold, another industry gains

Logistics companies are seeing the benefits of increased online spending with FedEx saying 2018 profits could grow 14% amid strong demand. The long-term question though is how much will Amazon eat into the global logistics business?

Other news

Among news that got buried (here too) was that Walmart acquired Bonobos, a men’s fashion retailer for $310 million.